TEAM TALK

• Patriots-Chargers Wild Card Injury Report.
• Evan Lazar’s Patriots Gameplan: 3 keys to victory in Sunday Night’s Wild Card matchup vs. the Chargers. “New England needs their top dawgs and their braintrust to outperform their counterparts.”
• Mike Dussault reports Rhamondre Stevenson became 6th Patriot to earn 2025 AFC Player of the Week.
• Alexandra Francisco says the Patriots are hosting a live ‘All Access Patriots Playoff Kickoff Party’ on Friday to celebrate the return of postseason football in Foxborough at Patriot Place. /Sweet!
• Transcripts: Mike Vrabel (Plus 13 min. video) and Drake Maye (Plus 10...

The New England Patriots are in the middle of preparing for their wild-card playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Across the league, though, there has been quite a bit of chaos with the latest head coaching carousel.

Several teams have openings at their head coach spot, with perhaps the most surprising of the bunch being the Baltimore Ravens. After just missing out on the postseason this year, the Ravens opted to fire longtime head coach John Harbaugh.

While Harbaugh has quickly become one of the top head coach candidates across the league, Baltimore’s opening is viewed as perhaps the...

The Ravens parted ways with head coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons on Monday. Now, Baltimore will be looking for a head coach to pair with quarterback Lamar Jackson, and former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has a candidate in mind.

“Steve Spagnuolo, I think, is definitely the best candidate,” Gronkowski said on Wednesday during “Up & Adams.”

Spagnuolo has a few years of experience as an NFL head coach from 2009 to 2011 with the St. Louis Rams. He finished with a 10-38 record before being let go. Spagnuolo also served as the New York Giants interim...

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is eager for his team to get a chance to play playoff football on Sunday.

The Patriots are set to host the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night in the NFL Wild Card Round in an intriguing game. With New England now in a win-or-go-home situation in the playoffs, it adds to the pressure, which Vrabel wants the team to embrace.

“We need to embrace the preparation, and I want them to continue to enjoy the execution and everything that goes on with this,” Vrabel said on Wednesday.

“I’m excited. I’m excited for...

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert feels like taking Week 18 off did wonders did his wrist ahead of Sunday’s playoff game against the New England Patriots.

The Chargers opted not to play Herbert on Sunday due to his hand injury and gave him a week off to get ready for the Wild Card Round. After practice on Wednesday, Herbert said he’s feeling good.

“I’d say definitely not taking hits on it last week was probably pretty helpful,” Herbert said on Wednesday. “It limited kind of the swelling and just getting back to making sure that you have got full...

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye may have to get Rhamondre Stevenson a gift.

As NFL quarterbacks do at the Holidays, they buy offensive linemen gifts for blocking them all season long. However, after the regular season ended, Maye said Stevenson joked he needed a gift too for all the pickup blocks he made all season.

“He does it in all three phases,” Maye said on Wednesday. “I mean, the amount of pickup blocks – he told me he needs a gift like the O-linemen, and he probably does. The way he’s blocked this year, it’s been one of the...

The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers are each looking to take a major step forward during their wild-card matchup on Sunday.

How?

I’ve put together the keys to victory for both sides:

NE: ESTABLISH THE RUN

Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson will be as important as anyone for the home team, especially as the game progresses.

The Chargers finished second in time of possession (32:30) in 2025, but were actually first in that metric (32:55) before sitting starters in their Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos.

The Patriots finished sixth in time of possession (31:17), though...

The New England Patriots played a comparatively easy schedule in the regular season, there is no denying that. That being said, they are still a battle-tested team that cut its teeth against a handful of high-quality opponents or at least units. The playoffs, however, are a different animal: every team is good, and the Los Angeles Chargers are no exception.

While not statistically outstanding on offense, they are still capable of moving the ball and scoring points. Their defense, meanwhile, has been one of the best in the NFL against both the pass and the run. They finished with an...

As the Patriots get set for their first playoff game under head coach Mike Vrabel, the coach’s message has been simple: don’t go away from what has been working.

“What coach was preaching was just don’t change our process, our preparation throughout the week — what we’ve been doing,” quarterback Drake Maye said. “I think the natural thing is to get a little more amped as a human for a big game. Just trust what you’ve been doing… Don’t do thing out of the ordinary.”

Or according to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, don’t switch the macaroni and cheese.

“You don’t...

On Sunday night, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers will meet in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. It will be their fifth postseason meeting in a history dating back to 1963.

The previous four games have mostly gone well for New England. While they dropped the first one 51-10 with the AFL Championship on the line, they won the three subsequent matchups. The Patriots beat the Chargers 24-21 in San Diego in the 2006 playoffs, followed by wins in Foxborough in the 2008 conference championship (21-12) and 2018 divisional round (41-28).

Let’s take a closer...

Thanks to their historically easy schedule, the New England Patriots have not faced many good teams this season. Of their 17 games, only three came against a team that finished the year with a winning record.

While the Patriots’ regular season was a cakewalk, helping them win the AFC East and tie for the best record in the NFL, the playoffs are a different story. There are no easy teams left.

They may learn that the hard way when they host the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend in the Wild Card Round. In several respects, the Chargers are arguably New...

Sunday night’s battle between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers was a wild one. The NFL regular-season finale had everything, ending in a dramatic 26-24 victory for the Steelers after Ravens rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed the game-winning field goal as time expired.

The game nearly went the other way, however, due to Aaron Rodgers’ frustrating communication issues. His helmet headset malfunctioned multiple times in the fourth quarter, causing him to burn Pittsburgh’s last two timeouts on its penultimate drive.

After the headset in his first helmet failed, Rodgers called a timeout and switched helmets. Shortly thereafter, the headset in...